With the new year comes new tax rules. 2015 marks the second year in a row of straightforward tax changes, primarily made up of simple inflation adjustments.
Income tax rates remained unchanged, while income tax brackets, personal exemptions and standard deductions were adjusted upwards for inflation. The AMT exemption amount was increased for inflation, from $82,100 to $83,400 for married filing joint filers in 2015. The estate tax exemption grew by $90,000 per person to $5,430,00. For more details, view IRS Revenue Procedure 2014-61.
Social Security benefits increased by 1.7% for the annual cost of living adjustment. The amount of earned income subject to Social Security taxes has increased to a new cap of $118,500, making the maximum Social Security tax due on income by an individual $7,347, up from $7,254 last year. For more details on Social Security adjustments, view the 2015 Social Security Changes COLA Fact Sheet.
Contribution limits on most retirement plans were raised. Workers participating in a 401(k) can now contribute up to $18,000 in 2015 and those 50 and over can contribute up to $24,000. While IRA and Roth IRA annual contribution limits remain unchanged at $5,500 with an additional $1,000 catch-up for individuals 50 and older, the phase-out income limits for IRA and Roth IRA contributions were increased slightly. For more information, view the IRS 2015 Pension Plan Limitation announcement.
The 2015 tax and estate updates are available. For the desktop editions, links to download the latest versions are included below. No action is required for the online editions.
The latest version includes estate tax updates for 2015 and updates to the Social Security estimates.
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→ | Download the latest version now to update to the 2015 rules. |
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Silver Online has been updated for the 2015. |
